No excuse for driver distraction (and free ice scrapers…)

ACT Policing will be targeting driver distraction during the month of June as part of its ongoing road safety campaign.

Driver distraction is any action that takes a driver’s attention away from the road and onto other elements of their environment. This could include using a mobile phone, driving with headphones in, tuning your radio, managing children or pets on board or applying make-up.

Road Safety Operations Team Sergeant Stuart Howes stresses that even a short glace away from the road can lead to a serious or fatal collision.

“If drivers think ‘it only takes me a few seconds to check a text message’, then they don’t understand what a few seconds on the road really means.”

“If a driver travelling in an 80km/h zone takes their eyes off the road for three seconds then they’ll travel over 60 metres effectively blind folded before their eyes return to the road,” Sergeant Howes said.

This frightening scenario occurs all too often, with over 3,000 people caught driving while using a mobile phone in the last financial year.

“Many phones are now capable of much more than simple voice calls, with text messaging, maps, ‘push’ notifications and multimedia functions providing more temptation to use a mobile phone while driving,” Sergeant Howes said.

“There is absolutely no excuse to look at your phone while driving, either have a passenger in the car check the phone for you or simply pull over.”

Drivers who ignore their safety and the safety of others and choose to use a hand-held phone while driving will receive Traffic Infringement Notice, including a fine of $337 and the loss of three demerit points.

ACT Policing is also offering drivers a free ice-scraper to clear windscreens of ice or frost, available from all Police Stations in the ACT while stocks last.

Whilst we are on the subject of driver distraction, does anyone know anything about an accident that happened at Hume about 5.30 yesterday afternoon. I was in a cab on my way home from the airport and gout caught in the traffic snarl up. It was about 6.15 when we finally crawled past it. ambulance had been and gone, but fire engine and police still on site. The back of one car I was able to see as we went past was totally smashed. You could see what was in the boot pummelled into the rear seats. Not pretty.

There was nothing in the media about it whatsoever and nothing on the ESA site, but judging by the back of the car that was hit, someone else’s car would be written off at the front quite badly also. I just hope both parties came out of it unscathed.

ironically, I was in the back of the cab before we had to stop rather quickly worrying about how close we were to the car in front.